Silverpoint

Ville-d'Avray: Pond with Boatman, Evening

Ville d'Avray: Pond with Boatman, Evening, Corot, 1862–63
Art Institute of Chicago

Corot, Ville d'Avray: Pond with Boatman, Evening, 1862–63. Etching and drypoint on cream China paper laid down on white wove card.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · The Charles Deering Collection

Master studyLine + MassThe etchings · 1845 to 1869

Ville-d'Avray: Pond with Boatman, Evening

Water and evening light in line

1862 to 1863: the pond at Ville-d'Avray that Corot painted all his life, here etched with a boatman and evening light. Reflections in vertical strokes, the water's surface broken by horizontals, the trees' undersides dark. The water lesson of the Mass unit, done with a needle.

Difficulty
Time
about 2.5 h
You draw with
H, HB and 2B graphite
Water as a mirrorTone from lineThe order of values in daylightHard, soft and lost edges

Why this one

  • Water reflection in line: vertical hatch for the mirror, horizontal breaks for the surface.
  • Evening light means the sky is the lightest value and everything upright is dark; a value-order lesson.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood H, HB, 2B H, HB for layout and line; 2B for the darks. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
  2. 2Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
  3. 3Alpha sketchbook 9 x 6 draw at the book's size and keep the proportions; date the page.
In general, this study asks for
  • Drawing pad or smooth cartridge
  • 2H and H with long points
  • HB for accents
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sandpaper block

Watch first

All videos →

Vertical strokes, darker lights, horizontal breaks: the pond at Ville-d'Avray in method.

YouTube
Printmaking process: intaglioMinneapolis Institute of Art · Four minutes that make every etching in this catalogue legible: ground, needle, acid, ink, wipe, press.Ville d'Avray, Entrance to the Wood: Corot at the Scottish National GalleryNL Cultural · A single late Corot looked at slowly; watch for the three divisions of light and the lost edges.

The plan

3 stages · ~120 min
  1. 1

    Water line and masses

    20 min

    Horizon of the water as a true level line. Envelope the tree masses above it and their reflections directly below, same width, same height foreshortened.

    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Trees, then their mirror

    70 min

    Trees in two or three layers of hatch, darkest on their undersides. Reflections in vertical hatch only, one layer fewer than the trees. Then three horizontals of bare paper lifted through the reflection with the eraser.

    Still water as a mirror: reflections drawn with vertical strokes, a half-step darker than what they reflect, and broken by a few horizontal ripple lineswater linesky: value 1sky's reflection: value 2 (darker)Everything reflects straight down from its base. Vertical strokes. Lights darker,darks lighter. Then break it with three horizontals.Corot's ponds are the sky laid flat, a half-step darker, with the grain of the paper left for sparkle.
    FigureStraight down, vertical, a half-step off, three horizontals.
    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Boat and sky

    30 min

    Boatman as two dark marks. Sky: a few horizontals, then stop. Squint, compare, box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A pond that reads as a surface, with the trees' reflections softer and lighter than the trees.

Where it goes wrong

  • Reflections as dark as the trees. Copied the trees upside down. One layer fewer, all vertical, broken by horizontals.

Log this session

Start the clock when you pick up the pencil. Stop it when you put it down. Log it. Every session counts toward the box.

00:00of ~150 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextPond at Ville-d'Avray

Before this, ideally

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